Challenges are opportunities for greatness

August 25, 2012

As we begin another school year, we must realize how complex and challenging our world has become, especially for our young people. I think of how the world has changed since my granddaughters started their educational journey. Maddy, who entered high school this week, did not begin her schooling in a world with tablets and smart phones, and Carley, who entered middle school this week, is living in a world where students her age are sending and receiving more than 5,200 text messages a month.

As I look at today's world, I am reminded of the rapid changes and the skills and training my grandchildren will need to keep pace with those changes. Think about our world and realize the rapid changes over the past decade in areas of the Internet, smart phones, Bluetooth, MP3, IPod, I Pad, tablets and GPS. From crowd funding of new venture capital to group communication through texting, Usenet or MUDs, or access to 24-hour news and entertainment, students today live in a world at their fingertips. Just think of the changes, challenges and opportunities they will experience in the next decade and how they need to expand their skills to keep pace with these evolving changes in technology and a global community.

Students need to discover the variety of abilities needed in the next decade and begin to master those skills so, when opportunity knocks, they will be ready to meet the challenges.

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With all these changes, one might think life has gotten easier for today's students. It has not. The demands and stress on them are intense as they deal with mass communication and a high-tech world that many cannot get away from. Today's high-tech world has created the need for new coping skills for youths and adults. Those individuals, who develop skills that allow them to cope with rapid change, deal with communication overload, stay focused in a high-tech, low-touch environment, while continuing to develop their communication and management styles and remaining positive when severely tested, will have opportunities for greatness.

Kids need to know life will not get easier after high school, college or as we age; however, life is what you make it. The secret to a good life is learning to make the most of today, not looking down the road at some future time when you think things will be better. My grandfather used to say, "I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today."

Learning to deal with stress and life's storms are learned skills and can only be learned by living through them. We need to teach kids to see challenges in their lives as opportunities for greatness. When they are challenged or someone criticizes them, teach them to take the high road and see the challenge as something they can learn from and the criticism as an opportunity to improve. Often times when challenged, we spend more time and energy complaining and whining rather then taking a deep breath and looking for the possibilities to turn the challenge into a positive learning experience. When we are criticized, it is natural to become defensive and angry with the person who has criticized us instead of listening and learning from their comments. I have found a good way to handle criticism is to listen, not to get defensive, and if the criticism is valid, work to change; if what is said is not true, move on with life.

Here are seven steps that will help you handle challenges and prepare you for opportunities for greatness.

- Focus on priorities: Identify critical issues and develop objectives-goals. There's no substitute for hard work, so realize early in life you have to give up something to get something.

- Implement something every day. Stretch your comfort zone. Most knowledge is useless until you act on it. Knowledge is rarely the barrier to personal development; lack of action often is.

- Seek feedback and support: Learn from each others' ideas and perspectives. Successful people surround themselves with people who are smarter than they are.

- Transfer learning into next steps: Adapt the information and plan for continued learning. Celebrate accomplishments, even if they are small. Success builds confidence and worth in one's self. Don't gloss over what has been accomplished by you and others.

- Motivation comes from within: Real goals are dreams with deadlines.

- Learn from your emotions: Listen to yourself and don't run from the pain. One problem with reflection and self-evaluation is that it doesn't always feel good.

- Reflect on what has happened: Extract maximum learning from your experience and the experiences of those around you. Learn from success and learn from your mistakes.

It's OK to fail - everyone else has. Thomas Edison said, "I found 5,000 ways how not to make a light bulb." His quote sets the stage for the mindset for a willingness to experiment and persistently try new things, even if you make mistakes. Even though Edison failed 5,000 times on the light bulb alone, no one thinks of Edison as a failure. If you're willing to accept failure and learn from it, if you're willing to consider failure as a blessing in disguise and bounce back, you've got the potential of harnessing one of the most powerful success forces.

In life, don't be afraid of challenges and being tested. The fact is that when times are stable and secure, no one is severely tested. People may perform well, may get promoted and may even achieve fame and fortune. But certainty and routine breed complacency. In times of calm, no one takes the opportunity to burrow inside and discover the true gifts buried down deep. In contrast, personal, business and social hardships have a way of making us come face to face with who we really are and what we're capable of becoming. This year, celebrate challenges, for they present opportunities for greatness.

- Doug Hovatter is a WVU associate professor and 4-H agent in Berkeley County. He can be reached at 304-264-1936, Doug.Hovatter@Mail.WVU.edu or berkeleyextension.com.